Monday, November 19, 2012

Marco Rubio: Man of Science

Sen. Marco Rubio is either ignorant about science or is afraid of offending the Christian Right. Rubio tells GQ about the age of Earth.

"I'm not a scientist, man. I can tell you what recorded history says, I can tell you what the Bible says, but I think that's a dispute amongst theologians and I think it has nothing to do with the gross domestic product or economic growth of the United States," Rubio told GQ's Michael Hainey. "I don't think I'm qualified to answer a question like that. At the end of the day, I think there are multiple theories out there on how the universe was created and I think this is a country where people should have the opportunity to teach them all."

Rubio continued, refusing to take a stance on the planet's age, which scientists have long estimated at 4.54 billion years.

"Whether the Earth was created in 7 days, or 7 actual eras, I'm not sure we'll ever be able to answer that," he said. "It's one of the great mysteries."

I have noted Rubio's willful ignorance of economic science. Jamelle Bouie of The American Prospect crunched the numbers of then Senate candidate Rubio's economic proposals. If Rubio had his way he would make the debt 79 percent of the GDP.

Unsurprisingly, Rubio's plan doesn't come close to meeting those targets. Insofar that Rubio's plan saves any money, it's by canceling TARP and making drastic cuts in social services. Even then, those cuts would only save $640 billion. By contrast, Rubio's plan to extend the Bush tax cuts and repeal the Affordable Care Act would increase the debt by $3.4 trillion. At best, Rubio's plan would bring U.S. debt to 79 percent of GDP by 2018.

I wrote about the silliness of Rubio proposing a Constitutional amendment to balance the budget. Not only did a Constitutional amendment have no chance of ever becoming law; it would give the federal government no flexibility in times of war or economic crisis. Rubio is advocated Milton Friedman-style economic nilihism during his campaign. Of course, it was all for show. Rubio stopped talking about a Constitutional amendment once he got into the Senate.

Rubio is a guy that proposes elimating the debt by making the debt 79 percent of the GDP. Should we really be surprised that we can't provide an answer for how old the universe is.